Zimbabwe opposition leader freed on bail
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was freed on bail today, two weeks after being arrested on treason charges for allegedly seeking to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.
The former trade union leader was picked up on June 6 after a week-long strike and protests called by his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.
The government had declared the protests illegal and said Tsvangirai’s calls for MDC supporters to take to the streets amounted to a call for Mugabe to be forcibly removed from power.
Harare High Court Judge Susan Mavangira ordered Tsvangirai to be freed today, saying “the state can strike a balance between the liberty of the accused person and the administration of justice.”
She said he would be violating the conditions of his release if he advocated the removal of Mugabe and his government by “violent or other unlawful means”.
Tsvangirai faces a separate treason charge for allegedly plotting to have Mugabe assassinated.
He vehemently denies the claim and says he was framed by a political consultant working secretly for Mugabe’s government.
Mavangira ordered Tsvangirai to pay a cash bail bond and hand over property deeds or rights to other assets.
Zimbabwe’s economy is in its worst crisis since independence, with 269% inflation, 70% unemployment and the near collapse of commercial agriculture since the often violent seizure of thousands of white-owned farms.
The opposition blames Mugabe for crippling the economy and creating acute shortages of fuel, food, medicine and essential imports. Mass famine was avoided this year only by foreign humanitarian aid.
